Rain Man

Roger Ebert started his review out by saying, “Is it possible to have a relationship with an autistic person? Is it possible to have a relationship with a cat? I do not intend the comparison to be demeaning to the autistic; I am simply trying to get at something. I have useful relationships with both of my cats, and they are important to me. But I never know what the cats are thinking.”

That is exactly the issue that Charlie Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise, comes across in “Rain Man,” released in 1988. His brother, Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, is “high-level” autistic. He has excellent conversation skills, a set schedule, knows baseball statistics, memorizes dinner menus and gets distressed when anything messes up his schedule. He can also count 49 spilled toothpicks with a blink of an eye and calculate square roots instantly. But what is he thinking? There is a scene in “Rain Man” that develops every frustration that Charlie feels about Raymond, a part when he says, “I know there has to be somebody inside there!” Who is it and where? “Rain Man” is so intriguing because it doesn’t ask every question with emotional but unlikely answers. Ebert noted, “This is not a movie like "Charly" in which there is a miracle cure.”

“Rain Man” works brilliantly inside Raymond’s limitations because it is a movie about limitations, mostly Charlie’s own limited habit to love people in his life, or to see things from their point of view. Ebert said, “As the film opens, we see Charlie frantically trying to juggle his way out of a crisis in his Los Angeles business, which seems to consist of selling expensive imported automobiles out of his hip pocket. He is driven, unhappy, a workaholic.” One day he hears that his father – a man that he has never talked to in years – has died back East. When he reads the will, he finds out that he was given nothing (including the luxurious 1949 Buick Roadmaster), and his father’s $3 million fortune has gone into a trust.

Who is the trust for? After going through some investigation, Charlie surprisingly finds out that it goes to support an older brother he never knew he had – an autistic brother who is in an institution for years. Ebert noted, “Visiting Raymond at the home where he lives, Charlie finds a methodical, mechani cal, flat-voiced middle-age man who "definitely" knows things, such as that tapioca pudding is "definitely" on the menu, and that his favorite TV program is "definitely" about to come on the air.”

“Rain Man” goes through this discovery with a story line that is as old as time. Livid that he was not even a part of the will, Charlie steals Raymond from the institute and promises to bring him to live in California. However, Raymond will not get on the plane (he “definitely” tells the dates and fatalities of every airline’s most recent accident). That makes Charlie put Raymond in shotgun of the 1949 Buick and they drive off on a cross-country journey of discovery.

Ebert credits, “It is an old formula, but a serviceable one, using shots of the car against the sunset as punctuation. The two brothers meet genuine actual Americans on the road, of course, and have strange adventures, of course. And although we have seen this structure in dozens of other movies, it is new this time because for Raymond it is definitely not a voyage of discovery.”

Everything chances in the movie except for Raymond. In a roadside diner in their drive, he still willfully demands the routines of the dining room in the place he has stayed at: The maple syrup is “definitely” supposed to be on the table before the pancakes are given. At first, Charlie doesn’t want to accept anything that Raymond demands and gets irritated at what looks like almost malign difficulty. Eventually, toward the end of the movie, he realizes that he loves his brother, and that love involves accepting him as autistic.

“Rain Man” is a movie that Hoffman and Cruise were determined to bring to the screen for a long time. Barry Levinson came on board after three previous directors refused to be a part of the movie.

Obviously, the problem was Raymond. Ebert asks, “If fiction is about change, then how can you make a movie about a man who cannot change, whose whole life is anchored and defended by routine?” Few actors could actually embody this type of role, and fewer could still take in and even entertain us with their performance, but Hoffman does it once again that he almost looks like he can take on impossible acting challenges. “You want taller” he asks in the audition scene in “Tootsie.” “I can play taller. You want shorter? I can play shorter. You want a tomato?” And he can play autistic.

Ebert credited, “At the end of "Rain Man," I felt a certain love for Raymond, the Hoffman character. I don't know quite how Hoffman got me to do it.”

Ebert goes on to say, “He does not play cute, or lovable, or pathetic. He is matter-of-fact, straight down the middle, uninflected, unmoved, uncomprehending in all of his scenes - except when his routine is disrupted, when he grows disturbed until it is restored. And yet I could believe that the Cruise character was beginning to love him, because that was how I felt, too.”

Ebert admitted, “I loved him for what he was, not for what he was not, or could not be.”

The one who actually does change is Charlie, who starts the film as a me-first luxury person, a wannabe President Donald Trump without an ounce of credit. By the end of the film Charlie learns how to pay attention, how to listen and how to be at least a little patient sometimes. He does not go through a spiritual change. He just starts to feel things that are more important than car selling. He is helped in this change by his girlfriend, Susanna, played by Valeria Golino, a Latina who loves him but depressed that he never changes.

By the end of “Rain Man,” what have we learned? Ebert says, “I think the film is about acceptance. Charlie Babbitt's first appearance in the movie has him wheeling and dealing in the face of imminent ruin, trying to control his life and the lives of others by blind, arrogant willpower. What Raymond teaches him is that he can relax, because try as he might, he will always be powerless over other people. They will do just about what they choose to do, no matter how loud Charlie Babbitt screams.” Raymond teaches Charlie so much about acceptance, even if it is something he knows alone.

Hands down, this is another one of my favorite movies and, quite possibly, the best role Dustin Hoffman has ever done. He really embodies this role so much that you actually feel like he has studied and been with autistic people of all levels. I actually studied autism for a public speaking class I took in college, and he did it perfectly. Definitely see this if you haven’t, I cannot do the film justice with my review.

Thank you for joining in on “Dustin Hoffman Month.” I hope all of you enjoyed my reviews as much as I have. Stay tuned next month for more reviews.”